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Traits
Once a Royal Spirit blossoms, her life will never be the same. Her mind has now been opened to a layer of a world most will never see. But worse, she has no power to close it again. The intrusion of ancient memories into her dreams, a third eye that drinks in the world's pain eagerly, the constant call of her Inner Light – all of these will become a regular part of her everyday life. Without careful self-control and understanding, a Princess may find herself overwhelmed by her own power. A Princess is a being of magic and she has a talent for feeling the ebb and flow of energy that laces through life. The magical power generated by potential and hope can serve as a nearly limitless fuel for her own abilities, as long as she places herself within the chain of causality generating it. However, this presents the greatest danger to a princess as well – her spirit draws essence to itself without discrimination. Some is fuel and some is poison. A Princess surrounded by nothing but pain and suffering will soon find herself driven mad by the dark magics that plague her. Meanwhile, her soul burns ever brighter with its awakening power. This will draw many mortals to her, seeking in one way or another the vital element lacking in their own lives. A savvy Princess can turn this to her advantage, using her magnetic draw to ingratiate herself socially and lure in those who need her help. However, this too is a double edged sword. She has no control over the mortals attracted to her. She may find herself the point of fixation for dangerous and obsessive personalities. Even close friends may start to treat her less like a person and more like a fix. All of this is the price every Princess pays in exchange for her power. She finds herself constantly beset by dreams of an ancient time and with her magic, she can spin these dreams into reality. However, these dreams are demanding. She must live up to them or she may find their power slipping out of her grasp. Nor are they pleasant, for they are the life and death of a civilization, forever cycling through a Princess' head. These are traits and abilities inherent to the Princess supernatural template, as well as special rules employed by the game not present in the core World of Darkness. Charms are on their own page. There is also a page for crossovers with other supernatural beings in the World of Darkness. New Advantage: Inner Light When a Princess' power first blossoms, it is barely the tiniest of sparks deep within a princess' soul. However, as time passes and the ancient spirit within her awakens, her power begins to shine like a roaring fire, strong enough to support great magics and bright enough to become an invisible presence in the material world. A character's Inner Light is frequently used to determine the strength of their magical effects and contributes to nearly all supernatural dice pools. As Inner Light increases, it not only gives a character more magical ammunition to throw around, but also represents her past life bleeding into her mental and physical world. Characters with high Inner Light experience more vivid dreams about the Kingdom and the Cataclysm and can have physical prowess beyond the limits of mere humanity. Finally, high Inner Light makes a character more vulnerable to Sensitivity and Hauntings. Ability Max: The highest a regular attribute or skill may be raised using XP. The number before the slash is the maximum level of any attribute or skill in normal form, the number after the slash is the maximum including bonus dots from Transformation. Wisps / Round: The maximum amount of magic a character may have available in their pool and the maximum amount they may spend per round. Charm Max: The highest level at which a Charm may be purchased. At Inner Light 10 characters may become arch-masters in a charm, and may create new applications for it. Sensitivity: The number of dice rolled when a princess's Sensitivity to suffering is invoked. Modified Advantage: Belief (Morality) Being a Princess is not something that just happens at random, a fortunate circumstance that gives you neat-o magic powers to do whatever you want with. You are here on Earth with a purpose: to make the world a better place and bring the Light of Hope to everyone suffering. The existence of the Kingdom proves to you that it can be done, and a Princess's conviction is one of her greatest assets. She works to save the world, because she believes, she knows, the world can be saved. She sides with good over evil because she believes that good will always triumph in the end. She fights because she believes she can win. If her beliefs begin to slip, as doubt creeps into her mind over her cause or ability, the Inner Light within her is beset by the darkness of the world. Belief tracks the strength of a Princess's convictions, her belief in herself and her cause. Characters with high Belief are confident, assured, able to draw on their power more readily due to the strength of their certainty. They inspire confidence in everyone around them. Characters with low Belief are wracked with doubt and despair, losing their confidence that the world can be saved and that they have the ability to do it, thinking larger and larger compromises must be necessary if there is any hope to win at all. At first, this is only a minor loss, and characters may believe it healthy to learn of their own limitations and view the world more realistically. As Belief continues to drop, though, all hope begins to abandon the character, her powers seem further away, across a widening gulf of gnawing doubt, and she may begin to project an aura of uncertainty and depression on those around her. Though Princesses have many of the same values as normal society, they are not totally congruent: Belief represents a Princess's belief in her own skill and worth, the righteousness of her cause, and the possibility of attaining her ultimate goals – not necessarily her belief in the validity of the current conventional set of Western laws and mores. While most people think that theft is wrong, for example, many Princesses and certainly all Knaves see no problem with stealing something if its owner came to it by unjust means or his ownership causes others to suffer. Starting characters begin with a Belief of 7, representing idealism and confidence without being totally blinded by rose-colored glasses. Whenever a Princess commits a sin at or below her current Belief level, she risks compromising her Belief in order to accommodate this new behavior (i.e., makes a degeneration roll, as described in the World of Darkness Rulebook). If the roll succeeds, the Princess feels guilt over her actions and recognizes them as wrong, a mistake she shouldn't make again. If the roll fails, the Princess may still feel guilt over her actions... but she thinks that they are necessary, and she's hopeless if unwilling to do them. A a Princess loses Belief, she begins to think along the lines of “Our ideals alone are not enough. We've got to compromise on some things if we want got get the big prize. We need to set our sights lower. What we're doing is wrong, but it has to be done because our determination and ideals aren't enough anymore.” She thinks “I can do this... but I have to hurt the people I'm trying to help.” She degenerates further, and now tells herself “I can do this... but I have to kill some people.” Until eventually, she reaches Belief 0, and the message becomes “I can't do this. No matter what I do. It's impossible.” Belief 0 represents not just a monstrous indifference to human suffering, but the utter nadir of despair. Unlike most other denizens of the World of Darkness, a Princess does not become an unplayable character at Belief 0 by turning into an utterly amoral monster. A Princess who reaches Belief 0 is so utterly consumed by hopelessness and misery that she will invariably commit suicide rather than face the horrible prospect of continued existence. "Supernatural compulsions", apart from the obvious Vuoto powers, covers Vetriolo's Consumed with Hate and Erode Sanity, Veritas' Zone of Truth, Twining's Stay the Hand, Plainsong's Blowin' in the Wind and Don't Stop Believing, Kiai's Cry Havoc, and Destiny's Forge Destiny and Entwine Fates. A Princess is also held responsible for the deeds of her followers. If another person, acting under her direction or with good reason to think she wishes it, fails a degeneration check, the Princess implicitly sins against Belief, at a level 1 step higher than her agent did, and must check for degeneration if that's equal to or less than her Belief. This applies even for the supernatural morality charts -- so yes, if a Princess persuades a werewolf to do something that makes him lose Harmony, that's a Belief sin for her, 1 step higher than the Harmony sin, despite the dissimilarity between Harmony and Belief. Innocents: A conceptual definition. One of the important concepts in Belief is the definition of "innocence"; deeds committed against such a person invariably shake the faith of one of the Enlightened worse than one who, they feel, deserves it. Formally and mechanically, an innocent is one who the Princess has not observed, or does not genuinely believe with supporting evidence, to have committed a sin against Morality (and such sins are always judged against Morality, even if they are a creature, like a Sin-Eater or one of the Uratha, whose personal sense is wildly divergent from human concepts. The sole exception to this are other Enlightened, who are judged by the harsher standards of Belief) of a level equal to, or lower than, the sin which the Princess herself has committed against them. For the sins involving inanimate objects, the clause applies to the individuals who either own it, or frequently use it in the context of publicly used goods. The "genuine belief" clause is not a full shield, though. A Princess who is fully in their right mind should require more than just a suspicion; they should have made a greater-than-cursory attempt at finding out the facts of the matter. Derangements can help shield against this, as the mind of the individual twists to conceal the horror of what they are doing; an Irrational Princess might legitimately believe that people are violent, and threatening her. Nevertheless, either way, should the individual later find out that they were wrong in doing so, and they passed the original Belief check, then their next Belief check is at -1, as doubt nags at them. Any sin committed against an innocent is counted as if it were one level worse than it is, otherwise. If a Belief 1 sin is committed against an innocent (as the vast majority of the population is), the Princess automatically degenerates, with no roll made. Example: Mary Hodges, a Seeker of Hearts, has Belief 6, and was just attacked by a gang of vicious muggers who wanted everything she had. Leaving them groaning on the floor, she also takes their wallets. As they were quite willing to commit a Morality 6 crime (Grand Theft, with the added threat of violence), they are not innocent, and so she sees no problem with the Petty Theft of their wallets. However, it isn't quite enough for what she wants, a few days later, and she walks out of the shop with the shoes concealed on her person. As far as she is aware, the shop's owners are innocent, and so this is a Belief 6 sin, mandating a roll. At her current level of Belief, she does not have to roll for injuring another, whether against the innocent or not, and murder will still force a Belief check, whether the person was a saint or a sinner. Effects of Belief A Princess with a Belief of at least 8 gains a +2 bonus on Social rolls to interact with non-magical mortals, plus an additional +1 for each point of Belief above 8, due to the soothing nature of her presence. Princesses with a high Belief have an Echo that inspires confidence and belief in others. A Princess with a Belief of 7 or higher grants a +1 bonus on Resolve and degeneration rolls to all non-magical mortals in regular contact with her (i.e., her friends and acquaintances). She need not be physically present at the time of the roll for the mortal to gain this benefit. A Princess with a Belief of 6 or lower suffers a -1 penalty to her Social rolls to interact with non-magical mortals, this penalty increases to -2 at Belief 3 or lower. Princesses with dwindling Belief have an Echo that inspires doubt and uncertainty in others. A Princess with a Belief of 4 or lower causes all non-magical mortals in regular contact with her, as well as any in her immediate physical vicinity, to suffer a -1 penalty to Resolve rolls and rolls to avoid gaining a Derangement. A Princess who reached Belief 0 falls into the gaping maw of despair and will invariably commit suicide. Even if placed under a complete suicide watch, she is listless, hopeless, and shows no ability or drive to do anything but take her own life. She has given up in every sense of the word and her actions, what very little there are, are now under control of the Storyteller. New Disadvantage: Shadows Princesses are,‭ ‬by nature,‭ ‬sensitive to the suffering of others.‭ ‬When they see someone in pain,‭ ‬they cannot help but feel it themselves.‭ ‬The sympathetic pain can linger far after the act that caused it,‭ ‬draining the Princess's strength in the form of Shadows.‭ ‬When those Shadows overwhelm her and cause her actual harm,‭ ‬that is what's known as a Haunting.‭ A Princess's Sensitivity is a dice pool determined by her Inner Light,‭ ‬increasing in size has the Inner Light grows stronger.‭ ‬When the Princess is exposed to cruel or callous acts that cause suffering in others and is unable to stop or mitigate them,‭ ‬she rolls her Sensitivity‭; ‬ she adds dice if she knows the sinner (+1 for intimates, +2 for the Princess herself) and adds +2 for sins against Morality 2 or 1. Any successes on this roll mean the Princess experiences a Haunting; if there are more successes than the Princess's rating in Shadows, she also gains one dot in Shadows. (A starting character has 0 Shadows.) In a Haunting, the sympathetic pain is so powerful that it leaves an impression in her psyche. The Sinister Resonance continues to echo within her mind, manifesting as depression and hallucinations. She may continue to see the face of the victim or relive the moment over and over. Food tastes like dust, her favorite music is nothing but a cacophony, and headaches won't leave her. The type of Haunting is determined by the number of successes rolled, and the severity of the Haunting is determined by the dots in Shadows she possesses. When a Haunting occurs on a roll that also caused the character to gain a dot of Shadows, use the new, higher rating to determine its severity. ‬ Shadows also impair a Princess' ability to recover Wisps: all the dice pools she rolls for that purpose subtract 1 die for each dot in Shadows she possesses. Acting immediately to set right the wrong that inflicts a dot of Shadows will remove it. If this is impossible, other methods must be used. If the Princess fulfills her Virtue, without the benefit of regaining her Willpower in advance, then she may remove 1 dot of Shadows in addition to regaining Willpower. Finally, the Princess may spend XP to remove a dot of Shadows; the cost equals her current Shadows rating. New Advantage: Wisps A "Wisp" is a mote of virtue and determination, a itty-bitty ember of the Human Spirit given off by positive emotions and general happiness, that Princesses use to fuel many of their abilities. The maximum amount of Wisps you can store, as well as the number you can spend in one turn, is determined by your Inner Light. Spending Wisps *'Charm Activation': While Transformed, a Princess may spend Wisps to activate most Charms; the cost of which is particular to each charm. *'Practical Magic': Whether or not she is Transformed, a Princess may spend Wisps to add bonus dice to mundane rolls based on certain Attributes, as determined by the Queen she follows. *'Holy Shield': While Transformed, a Princess may spend Wisps to negate damage as she recieves it. Each Wisp spent negates one Bashing or Lethal damage, or converts one Aggravated damage into Bashing damage. The attack could be turned aside from a vital spot at the last second, grazing her instead of striking home, or could be visibly stopped by a shower of sparks and light. *'Quickened' Transformation: A Princess may spend a Wisp to transform reflexively without rolling. Regaining Wisps *'Circle of Lights': The Princess regains a Wisp whenever someone close to her (either her normal or Transformed identity) regains Willpower for fulfilling their Virtue. If the Princess is present when the virtue is fulfilled, she immediately regains one Wisp; otherwise, it comes to her when she sleeps that night, strengthening and calming her dreams. Rather than keep track of what every NPC is doing every day to fulfill a Virtue, a Princess should simply roll her Sensitivity + dots in the Circle of Lights merit each night; each success represents a good deed done that day and gives her one Wisp. If a Princess can't get enough sleep, or a restful enough sleep, to regain a point of Willpower, she cannot regain Wisps in this way either, and Wisps not recovered from one day do not carry over to be picked up the next. *'Sacred Oaths': A Princess can regain Wisps more directly by going out and making the world a better place in a way that fits with her Calling. A Mender could work as a nurse or in a soup kitchen, a Troubador might perform in public or display her art, a Seeker could mentor a youth, et cetera. By sacrificing a non-trivial amount of time and energy -- it need not be a Herculean effort, but it's going to at least take up your afternoon -- on an appropriate mundane task, the Princess may make an appropriate roll for that task: Intelligence + Medicine for a nurse, Presence + Expression for a performer, Strength + Crafts to build homes for the poor, and so on. A failure on this roll indicates she has failed at this task, otherwise she regains one Wisp per success. *'Inner Strength': When the chips are down and the situation is dire, a Princess can call upon her own inner reserves of determination and draw out power she didn't know she had. As an instant action, spend a Willpower to roll your Belief and regain one Wisp per success. This ability can only be used when the Princess is in immediate danger, such as in combat, and is not meant to be an everyday means of regaining power -- a good rule of thumb is, if it doesn't matter that this action is Instant and thus takes up a character's action for the turn, it's probably not dangerous enough to work. Transformation The most essential expression of a Princess' power is the ability to transform. She calls on the magic she's gathered to herself and assumes the form of her "perfected self", an idealized version of herself unfettered by this world of sorrows. Although she can only maintain this immense power for a limited time, a transformed Princess is a force to be reckoned with. The first time a Princess transforms is called her Blossoming. This is an unconscious act, usually in response to some great need or danger. After her Blossoming, a princess' Phylactery will manifest. This is the physical representation of the power sealed away inside of her, and may take the form of any small simple object. She must have her Phylactery with her later to transform. When a Princess wishes to transform, she has two options: she may either spend a Wisp or make a transformation roll. If she spends a Wisp, she transforms automatically, as a reflexive action. The transformation roll is Belief + Inner Light. :Failure: The Princess fails to transform and spends the full round. :Success: The Princess transforms as an instant action. :Exceptional Success: The Princess transforms as an reflexive action. A Princess can return to her ordinary self at any time as a reflexive action. She must de-transform if she spends her last Wisp, or when she falls asleep. Also, transformation grows harder to sustain as time passes. When a Princess reaches the end of a scene transformed, or after half an hour spent transformed, she rolls Belief + Inner Light: :Dramatic Failure: The Princess returns to her mundane self and her Phylactery discorporates. She must spend a Wisp and a Willpower point to resummon it, which takes a full round and requires her absolute concentration. :Failure: The Princess must spend a Wisp to remain transformed in the next scene, or the next half-hour, and future rolls to remain transformed take a -2 cumulative penalty until she ends a scene in her mundane self. :Success: The Princess remains transformed at no cost. :Exceptional Success: The Princess remains transformed, and need not make this check at the end of the next scene, or for a full hour. While transformed, a Princess has full access to all of her Charms and abilities, and also gains the benefits below. Transformed Abilities Next to each Attribute and Skill on a Princess's character sheet, in addition to the five blank dots normally present, there are another set of dots in parentheses. These dots represent additional skill or attribute dots the Princess has while Transformed. Each Princess gains a dot to one of her Attributes while Transformed based on her Calling, and may purchase additional Transformed Attributes and Skills by spending Experience Points. Buying a new dot of a Transformed Attribute costs 5 experience points for the first dot plus 5 experience points for each dot of that Transformed Attribute you already have; buying a new dot of a Transformed Skill costs 3 experience points for the first dot plus 3 experience points for each dot of that Transformed Skill you already have. Whatever the value of your non-Transformed ability is has no effect on the cost of raising the corresponding Transformed ability; they are tracked separately for the purpose of XP costs. While Transformed, your Transformed Attributes and Skills are actually added to your normal Attributes and Skills; this can change Advantages such as Speed, Willpower, Initiative and Health, so record these values for both your normal and Transformed forms. Your total Transformed ability may not exceed the maximum rating for Transformed abilities as determined by your Inner Light, and you cannot have more dots in Transformed abilities than you have Belief + Inner Light. Dual Identity One aspect of the Hopeful's transformation is subtle but amazingly convenient: the mundane and transformed selves appear to be different people, and those who have seen one of the Princess' forms generally fail to recognize her in the other form. A simple perception roll never reveals a Hopeful's identity; to discover it requires active scrutiny, akin to seeing through a normal disguise. Whenever an observer has evidence that the two forms of a Princess are connected, he may roll his Wits + Subterfuge, contested by the Princess' Wits + Subterfuge, as an instant action; the observer takes a penalty that depends on his sympathetic connection to the Princess (see the Sympathy modifier to Charms; Sensory doesn't apply), while the Princess takes a penalty equal to her Sensitivity. If the observer gets more successes, he identifies the Princess correctly. If the observer gets a dramatic failure, he dismisses the evidence, and on any future attempts to discover the Princess' identity he takes a cumulative -1 penalty; if the Princess does, her behavior is so suspicious that the observer gets a cumulative +1 on future attempts to identify her, even if he fails on this attempt. (If both get dramatic failures, they cancel each other.) This protection does not apply to research rolls designed to gather evidence, or to direct observation of a transformation. If someone sees a Princess change, he will know who she is thereafter without any roll. If a Princess's mundane and transformed selves are seen close together, or she reveals knowledge in one form that she learned in the other, that counts as evidence and justifies an identification attempt; and the ST should give an observer bonuses if he has found multiple pieces of evidence through research. Supernatural powers that enhance perception are confused by a Princess' transformation. An entity using such a power cannot even begin to discover her identity before he realizes that she can transform. Once the Princess' nature is known, the supernatural observer may roll either Wits + Subterfuge as above, or his usual roll for examination, to deduce her identity; both rolls take the penalty for Sympathy, and the Princess contests both. Supernatural sympathy to one of the Princess' forms does not connect to her in the other form, even for those who know her secret; even the Hopeful's own Charms, when modified by Sympathy, respect another Princess' privacy. If a power is currently targeting a Princess through a sympathetic connection, transforming ends the power's effect on her. Creating a Princess Begin by designing the Princess as a mortal, according to the World of Darkness core book: allocate Attributes and Skills, calculate the derived traits, and choose a Virtue and Vice. Then add the Hopeful template. Choose the character's Calling and assign her free transformed Attribute dot to one of the two permitted Attributes: *Champion: Strength or Resolve *Grace: Presence or Composure *Mender: Intelligence or Stamina *Seeker: Wits or Dexterity *Troubadour: Manipulation or Presence Choose the Queen the character follows, and note the form of Practical Magic that allows her to use. Distribute 3 dots among the Charms; you may place them in any Charm the character is eligible for. Select 3 Orisons, remembering that the Orisons associated with each Charm must be taken in order. Finally, the character has 1 dot in Inner Light and a Belief of 8. After adding the template, you have 7 Merit dots to further customize your character. You may buy Merits from the core book, or the Merits available only to the Hopeful. You may also raise Inner Light to 2 by spending 3 Merit dots, or to 3 by spending 6 Merit dots. Or you may buy more transformed dots: a transformed Attribute dot costs 2 Merit dots, and a transformed Skill dot costs 1 Merit dot.